Poll: Hillary Clinton's Approval Numbers Soaring

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is posting near record high approval numbers with 66 percent of Americans having a favorable view. The numbers suggest she would be a “formidable” candidate should she make another run at the White House four years from now.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll found that Clinton’s favorable rating is at 66 percent within one percentage point of her record-high rating in late 1998 and her unfavorable rating of 29 percent ties her record low since 1993.

Gallup polls have shown Clinton’s rating fluctuating over the years, with high points coming during her first years as President Bill Clinton’s first lady and during the impeachment proceedings against her husband.

Her low points include when she was locked in a battle four years ago with Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president when her favorability rating dropped below 50 percent.

Regardless, Clinton’s favorable rating has been above 60 percent in all five Gallup polls since January 2009.

“Most of the discussion of her political future centers on the possibility that she would make a second run at the White House in 2016, when she will turn 69,” Gallup noted. “The fact that Clinton is almost universally known and at this point well-liked by Americans suggests that she would be a formidable contender were she to decide to run.

“At the same time, the history of Americans' ups and downs in their ratings of her raises the possibility that if she were to jump back into the political fray, her image would have a significant probability of becoming more polarized and more negative once again,” Gallup said.